|
Sunday, 30 July 2006 |
  There is a problem. The problem is slasher movies, and the problem with slasher movies is that they, by their very intent, blow. The more "successful" they are in achieving their intent, the more they blow. Blow big, fat, juicy burrito chunks. I suppose there was a brief time, back in High School, during the early days of Friday the 13th when I found some twisted amusement in seeing a whole string of people hunted down, one by one, and offed in increasingly inventive ways by a psychotic killer. In general, those days have passed. Standing as a shining example of how little it takes to impress slasher fans comes High Tension (aka: Haute Tension, aka Switchblade Romance). which, thanks to a miniscule bit of character development (just don't give it much thought) looks almost like Citizen Kane compared to the standard effort.
Cécile de France (The Spanish Apartment) and Maïwenn le Besco (The Fifth Element) star as Marie and Alex, two college students who are going to Alex's house in the country for a few days to rest and do some studying. No sooner do they arrive than a crazed man appears at the front door and offs Alex's entire family, packs her along with Marie into his van and takes off down the road. With Alex thoroughly shackled, it is left to Marie to rescue both of them.
The mayhem continues in the standard bloody manner as the trio stops at a gas station and proceeds, supposedly, toward the killer's home. I'm not getting very specific here. After all, it wouldn't do to reveal the profoundly meaningful and thought-provoking aspects of the story. Suffice it to say, there are things afoot which have caused slasher fans to rave about the remarkable depth of this only slightly above the regular garbage slasher fare. It's true, there is more here than most others in the genre. It could be a lot worse. After all, it could be Wolf Creek. Don't let the fanatics fool you though. Despite the little bit of depth High Tension attempts to have, for the most part, it just doesn't add up. I don't care how well thought out the explanations are. It doesn't work.
Judging by the reactions I have read, slasher fans should love this one. I just don't want to know why. There are already too many dark and frustrating thoughts occupying my mind. That section is full. For the rest of us, High Tension can be a reasonable way to revisit our days of watching sadistic movies and see how they have advanced. I recommend the 2003 remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre instead though. At least it has some truly surreal visuals and a warped sense of humor. In general, I'd lean toward staying away all together.
Special Note: High Tension has been released in multiple forms, lengths, ratings and languages. This review refers to the UK DVD release, which is uncut and in the original French, with subtitles. North American releases may be edited and/or dubbed.
Starring: Cécile de France, Maïwenn le Besco, Philippe Nahon, Franck Khalfoun, Andrei Finti, Oana Pellea, Gabriel Spahiu
Language: French
Director: Alexandre Aja
Written by: Alexandre Aja, Grégory Levasseur
Cinematographer: Maxim Alexandre
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Rated: R, NC-17
Running Time: 89 Mins, 91 mins mins
Release: 2003
Reviewer: John Rice
|
Advanced Search
